Boox’s first pocket-sized color e-reader. | Image: Boox Now that the latest versions of Boox’s pocketable e-readers are finally available in China, we have a rough idea of what the new P6 Pro and P6 Pro Color will cost if and when the company releases them globally. Unfortunately, in keeping with the theme of price increases in 2025, they’re now quite a bit more expensive, as spotted by Liliputing.The Boox P6 Pro, which has a slightly better 6.13 inch black-and-white Carta 1300 E Ink display than what the $300 Palma 2 used, is priced at 2,799 Chinese yuan, or around $393. The P6 Pro Color, which uses a 6.13-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 color screen, similar to what you’ll find in Kobo’s color e-readers, is even pricier at 3,299 CNY, or around $463. Boox is offering launch discounts for both devices that brings them down to 2,516 CNY/$353 and 2,991 CNY/$420, respectively, but because of US tariffs, they could end up being even more expensive if and when they launch here.Both devices feature 128GB of storage that’s expandable to 2TB using a microSD card, a 16MP camera, 3,950mAh batteries, and run a version of Android 13 customized by Boox. The P6 Pro Color includes a bump in RAM from 6GB to 8GB, and supports the use of a stylus for note-taking. The most compelling upgrade is that these are Boox’s first compact e-readers to include a SIM card slot for accessing 5G mobile data. But unlike the Bigme Hibreak Pro that launched earlier this year, the P6 Pro models aren’t designed to be smartphone replacements with calling capabilities, making that price hike a tougher sell.

Apple is preparing to shuffle executive positions ahead of former COO Jeff Williams’ retirement this year, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Among other changes, Eddy Cue, Apple’s head of services, will reportedly oversee the health and fitness teams that may soon launch a rumored Health Plus subscription.Williams previously led Apple’s health initiatives and passed the role of COO to Sabih Khan, the iPhonemaker’s former vice president of operations, in July. The company is splitting up Williams’ other responsibilities before his departure at the end of this year, with Apple software head Craig Federighi taking over watchOS, and hardware leader John Ternus overseeing Apple Watch hardware engineering, according to Bloomberg.Bloomberg also reports that Johnny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, is “evaluating his future at the tech giant” just months after his team launched the company’s first in-house modem.Apple is shuffling other positions as well. Bloomberg reports that Apple fitness chief Jay Blahnik will report to health VP Sumbul Desai amid an internal investigation into conduct. Both Blahnik and Desai previously reported to Williams. In August, The New York Times reported that a former employee sued Blahnik, accusing him of creating a toxic work environment.

Microsoft is updating its Copilot app on Windows to allow it to create documents from a chat session and connect to Gmail and Outlook accounts. The updated Copilot app is rolling out initially to all Windows Insiders, ahead of a general release to all Windows 11 users.Copilot on Windows can now create Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and PDFs all from the chat interface. “With just a prompt, you can instantly turn ideas, notes, and data into shareable and editable documents with no extra steps or tools required,” explains Microsoft’s Copilot team. “And for responses with 600 characters or more, Copilot also includes a default export button that lets you send text directly to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or PDF.”You’ll also be able to link Copilot to Outlook or Gmail accounts, so the AI assistant can surface content from your online accounts. You could then ask Copilot to find all invoices from a company in your inbox, or pull up the email address for a contact. This is an opt-in feature and you’ll have to explicitly link an Outlook or Google account in the connectors section of the app. You can connect OneDrive, Outlook, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts. It’s similar to the Google Drive and Dropbox integration that OpenAI launched in ChatGPT earlier this year.The updated Copilot app on Windows arrives ahead of a new OneDrive app that Microsoft is set to release next year. The overhauled OneDrive Windows app will include a new gallery view, AI-powered slideshows, and editing features.

Ford and GM are both backing off their effort to continue offering the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit to customers through the end of the year, Reuters is reporting. Last week, it was revealed that the automakers were working with their respective dealer networks on short-term programs that would allow customers to continue to receive the tax credit on leased EVs through the rest of the year. With the tax credit expiring on September 30th, Ford and GM were hoping to keep offering the discount to customers for a short while in order to buoy EV sales. Ford and GM took a different approachWhile automakers including Hyundai and Stellantis have offered cash incentives to bridge the gap for buyers, Ford and GM took a different approach. They sought to buy EVs from their own dealers by having their finance divisions put down payments on all the electric models in their inventory before the tax credit expires. The dealers would then lease the vehicles to customers with a $7,500 discount baked into the price.But now that plan is essentially moot. GM dropped out first, on Wednesday, followed by Ford, Reuters says. GM opted to kill the plan after Republican Senators Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) flagged the plan to the Treasury Department, calling it “a loophole” and “the total violation of Congressional intent by these nefarious actors.” Even so, Ford and GM did clear their plan with the Internal Revenue Service, according to Reuters. The automakers were hoping to soften the blow on car shoppers and keep up the momentum that many dealers have been seeing in recent weeks. EV sales spiked in July and August as shoppers rushed to claim the credit before it expired on September 30th. Experts are predicting that now that the credit is gone, EV sales are likely to plummet.Update October 10th: After publication, Ford spokesperson Marty Günsberg shared the following statement: “Ford will not claim the EV tax credit but will maintain the competitive lease payments we have in the market today to continue providing customers with more affordable electric vehicle options. For customers who want to purchase an electric vehicle, Ford Credit continues to offer 0 percent financing for 72 months and other incentives.”

If you check out the feature listings on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap page, you'll notice that many of those functionalities are related to AI. And that's one of the major complaints about Microsoft 365 apps: that the Redmond tech giant is making updates mostly about AI and bug fixes, while not being fast enough to fix what those apps lack. Microsoft OneNote faces the same criticism.

Container runtimes often lie at the heart of many self-hosting setups, as they’re responsible for deploying FOSS services inside lightweight, isolated, and portable environments. But if you’re a part of the home lab ecosystem, you’ll probably know that they are far from the only tools at your disposal. And I don’t just mean regular applications, either.

"Surprisingly great" is not a phrase I ever thought I would use to describe how a new Bubsy game feels to play. Bubsy is a star of some of the most wonky and aggravating retro games of all time, like Bubsy 3D. The series' internet infamy has allowed it to live long enough to get a brand new 3D platformer, Bubsy 4D, which might just be good enough to redeem the series.

There comes a time in every PC's life when things begin to feel slow. Everything takes a little longer to load, the FPS is lower than it used to be, it runs a little warmer and is just that extra bit louder. Nothing is non-functional, but it's missing that sheen it once had. Novelty wears off, sure, but you don't have to accept degrading performance. Here's five often overlooked upgrades to breathe life back into your aging rig.

Are you in the mood for a good co-op game? Trick question, there's always room for more co-op games. Gaming is always a ton more fun when it's with friends, and it's even better when the game is well-made.

Without a doubt, SSD storage is going to be the best way to go if you're looking to upgrade your device with the fastest storage available. The only problem is that it isn't cheap once you start getting into higher volume drives. That's why this Corsair 8TB M.2 SSD that's now 40% off is worth taking a look at despite its high price, coming in well below its original retail.

Halloween is the perfect excuse to mix creativity with tech tinkering. With a Raspberry Pi, a few inexpensive parts, and some imagination, you can bring spooky fun to life right at home. Whether you want to haunt your neighbors with lights and sound or simply add a festive touch to your smart home setup, these projects are simple enough for a weekend build yet impressive enough to turn heads.

SmartThings Aeotec hubs can now join existing Thread networks. We’re one step closer to a smart home that can manage Thread border routers from different manufacturers. Samsung SmartThings now supports “two-way Thread network unification,” its fancy way of saying Thread credentials sharing. This means that now, if you add a Samsung device that’s a Thread border router to your home, it can join an existing Thread network from other ecosystems, rather than setting up its own.The capability, which is part of the Thread 1.4 spec released last year, will launch on select SmartThings hubs — including the Aeotec Smart Home Hub and the Aeotec Smart Home Hub 2. More hubs will follow, according to the company. A new “Manage Thread Network” menu in the SmartThings app Hub interface will allow you to connect a compatible hub to an existing Thread network using a QR code, one-time passcode, or your mobile OS credential locker. It will also allow you to add a third-party border router to an existing SmartThings hub’s Thread network via a QR code or OTP.A Thread border router is a gateway for Thread devices. Thread is a wireless smart home protocol designed for low-power devices such as door locks, lights, and sensors, which is used by the Matter smart home standard. Border routers are required to connect local Thread devices to other networks and to the internet. The tech can be built into devices like streaming boxes, smart speakers, and Wi-Fi routers, which means it’s easy to amass several in a smart home. Having multiple Thread border routers can improve the range of Thread devices you’re using, as well as the reliability of the self-healing mesh network. If one border router goes down, another can pick up the traffic. When Matter launched in 2022, there was no standard way for a Thread border router from one manufacturer, such as an Apple TV, to connect with Thread border routers from another, like an Eero Wi-Fi router. This often resulted in each setting up separate Thread networks, preventing devices on them from talking to each other. Initially, border router manufacturers — including Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung — said they would work together to come up with solutions to this problem, but they mostly didn’t. While Apple and Google implemented Thread network credentials sharing using their mobile OSes, via iCloud Keychain and Google Play services, this is largely ecosystem-specific. A standardized method for sharing credentials was still needed. What is MatterMatter is a smart home interoperability standard designed to provide a common language for connected devices to communicate locally in your home without relying on a cloud connection. It is built to be secure and private, easy to set up, and widely compatible.Developed by Apple, Amazon, Google, Samsung, and others, Matter is an open-sourced, IP-based connectivity software layer for smart home devices. It works over Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Thread.Thread is a low-power, wireless mesh protocol. It operates on the same 2.4GHz spectrum as Zigbee and is designed for low-power devices, such as sensors, light bulbs, plugs, and shades. IP-based, Thread devices can communicate directly with each other, the internet, and with other networks using a Thread Border Router.Today, Matter supports most of the main device types in the home, including lighting, thermostats, locks, robot vacuums, refrigerators, dishwashers, dryers, ovens, smoke alarms, air quality monitors, EV chargers, and more.A smart home gadget with the Matter logo can be set up and used with any Matter-compatible ecosystem via a Matter controller and controlled by more than one ecosystem with a feature called multi-admin.Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, Apple Home, Home Assistant, Ikea, and Aqara are among the well-known smart home companies supporting Matter, along with hundreds of device manufacturers.Finally, last year, Thread Group, the organization that oversees the protocol, took matters into its own hands and mandated “credentials sharing” in its 1.4 spec release. This is a standardized way for Thread devices and border routers to join an existing Thread network. Now, SmartThings has adopted Thread 1.4, and Apple has it in its latest iOS 26 update for Apple TV and HomePods (which are Thread border routers). Although Apple has not launched an interface for credentials sharing and it’s not clear if the feature is live yet. However, neither Amazon nor Google yet supports 1.4, though both say they are working on it. Google Home Thread border routers — including the Google TV streamer, Nest Hubs, and Nest Wifi — may connect to existing networks through Google’s mobile OS credentials sharing. But Amazon’s Echo devices that support Thread can only connect to Amazon or Eero-created networks. Its Echo devices are on Thread 1.3, but the company says it plans to enable Thread 1.4 next year and will support credentials sharing. Eero, the Wi-Fi router company owned by Amazon, has some 1.4 features enabled, but doesn’t currently support merging with existing Thread networks.So three years in and we’re, like, three-quarters of the way there. Sort of. Great job, guys.